


Jemma's Birthday

by orphan_account



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, secret santa 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 15:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5591110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Secret Santa fic for ninedaysafter! Basically a soulmate tattoo!AU for Fitzsimmons! I hope you enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jemma's Birthday

Jemma pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes as she let out an exasperated groan. She did  _ not _ have time to run yet another simulation on the dendrotoxin samples for her thesis, which she would need to complete in the next month and a half if she and Fitz were to graduate according to schedule. According to schedule was, of course, relative, since her and Fitz’s plan had them graduating three years earlier than everyone else in their class. What else were teenage geniuses to do? 

Genius or not, she reminded herself, the schedule would be blown to smithereens unless she could find and fix the reason behind the utter failure that was her concentrated dendrotoxins. She pulled down another set of test tubes from the cupboards above her workstation, mentally going through a list of what she would have to do to create another batch of the solutions necessary and variables that she could use to test for the flaw(s) in her formula and/or procedure. Even trying to imagine going through the whole process again was enough to give her the start of a killer migraine, but she was nothing if not determined. In fact, she was so wrapped up in her determination and exhaustion that she barely registered when someone opened the door to the lab, letting out only a small murmur in way of greeting to whoever it was. Her quick dismissal of the new arrival was  clearly not picked up by him, so when he touched her shoulder Jemma nearly jumped out of her skin. 

“Jesus Christ, don’t you know better than to surprise people when they’re handling chemi-” She started, anxiety, exhaustion, and indignation causing her to snap at the person before she was able to face them and fully process who it was. “Oh Fitz, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”

“No, I’m sorry,” He said, blue eyes wide from her outburst, tiredness lingering around their edges. “I didn’t notice you holding anything.”

“They’re capped, but why are you up anyways? I thought I was the night owl between the two of us.” She asked, marginally amused by his sleep rumpled clothing and  attractively ( _ best friend, he’s my friend,  _ she reminded herself _ , we’re just platonic _ ) mussed hair. 

“Usually you are,” he said, yawning and dragging a hand sleepily across a small amount of stubble on his jaw, stubble that she hadn’t even know he had until now but had an insane desire to touch. She mentally shook herself for the impulse, pinning the blame for it on her fatigue.

“But,” he continued in an adorably sleepy voice, a bit deeper and rougher than usual, “You didn’t respond when I texted you or called you, and you always have your phone on. I was afraid you’d fallen asleep on a lab bench, though honestly that would have been a little better than seeing you up and prepping for another round of experimentation on,” he gestured vaguely to the chemicals, “All of that.”

“Fitz, I don’t have time to  _ not _ work on all of this.” She argued, reaching for the closest graduated cylinder.

“Not even on your birthday?” He asked, an incredulous note in his voice.

“Birthday?” She snorted, “My birthday isn’t until the 22nd- oh. Oh. That’s today, isn’t it?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And my parents are going to fly down?”

“Yup.”

“And my soulmark…”

“Yes, Jemma, today, your eighteenth birthday, which your overworked self forgot, is also the day you receive your soulmate-identifying mark.” Fitz paused, taking a small breath before continuing, “And all of that is why it would be really great if you would let me help you clean up your workstation.” 

Her eyes flicked up to the clock before she nodded, letting her exhaustion seep out in a small sigh as they began to sort the vials and chemicals and other miscellaneous objects from around her station, as always, moving in a strange rhythm that they neither acknowledged nor fought. They finished quickly, and Fitz insisted on helping her carry her stuff to her dorm. 

“Why were you texting me anyways?” She asked him as they exited the lab together, pushing through the gleaming glass doors of the lab into the chilly early morning air.

“Just to say Happy Birthday,” He shrugged. “You’re my best friend after all.” 

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

“Wait, what’re you saying? You won’t be able to make it?” Jemma spoke desperately into her phone, disbelief etched across her face.

“Honey, I’m so sorry. We really did try our best,” Her mother started.

“But we’re in the middle of a huge blizzard,” Her father interrupted. 

“They’ve grounded all the planes-”

“There’s no way we’ll be able to get a flight before tomorrow. I’m so, so sorry baby girl.” Her father finished. Jemma rubbed a hand against her temples, willing back tears.

“It’s fine, really.” Jemma promised, knowing that her parents were probably equally distraught over the whole situation. “I can wait a day.”

“Baby we know,” Her mother said, “But we also know how stressful getting your soulmark can be. We just want you to know that we’re here for you, and we really planned on being there for you in person.”

“Mom, I know you and dad are here for me, but I’m perfectly equipped to handle this. The mark will still be wherever it shows up when you get here, and we can all freak out about it together.”

“Sounds like an excellent plan,” Her father said as her mother started talking in the background with some other individual. “And I’m so glad that you’ve grown up to be such a strong young woman. We’ll try to call you later, but right now your mother seems to be trying to convince a stewardess that she is capable of flying a commercial jet and that she should be allowed to do so.”

“Well to be fair, she can fly a commercial jet,” Jemma said, smiling into her phone despite of, or maybe really because of, everything that had happened.

“We know that, but the stewardess doesn’t and I doubt she has the authority to loan a plane to your mother. I’ll call you later Jem, but I really need to convince your mother that taking any sort of aircraft out in this weather is a terrible idea.”

“Alright dad, see you tomorrow.”

“See you then, Jem.” Her father said before ending the call, and Jemma couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Her family was terribly odd, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

She got up from the armchair she had slouched in for the duration of the call and stretched, her mind spinning to possibilities of what she could do for the rest of the day. If she was being honest, she really did need to get back to the lab, but it was also her birthday… What harm could a day off do?

She picked up her phone again and dialed Fitz’s number. Even though she couldn’t have her family with her, she was immensely grateful she could have her best friend.

 

\------------------------------------------------

 

“And that’s why you should never try to play baseball near a wasp’s nest.” Fitz finished, Jemma laughing next to him on the couch, laughing so hard that her stomach hurt.

“Fitz, what were you thinking?” She gasped between bouts of laughter.

“I was thinking that we’d be able to avoid it, but eleven year olds have terrible aim.”

“ _ Clearly _ .” She said.

“Oi, shut it. At least I’m not the one who nearly got a tattoo when she was thirteen.”

“Hey, that was a completely valid, if slightly illegal, almost life choice. And I’m totally going to get a tattoo eventually.” 

“Well, if all things go according to plan, you should kind-of be getting a tattoo today.” He said, tone light.

“Yeah, I guess I will,” she smiled in return, she opened her mouth as if to ask a question then hesitated slightly.

“What is it, Jem?” Fitz asked, bumping his shoulder against hers. 

“What is what?”

“The thing that you almost keep saying.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” She said, causing Fitz to fix her with an amusedly unconvinced glance.

“Of course not, Jemma. After all, what would I, your best friend, know about your body language?” He teased. “Honestly though, if you don’t say it I’m going to be insanely curious about it. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s really nothing, Fitz, It’s just,” She hesitated again, knowing that asking wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but she also knew that it was something insanely personal, and she didn’t want to make her closest friend uncomfortable. “What’s it like, getting you mark? I mean, what’s yours like?”

“Oh, um,” He stuttered, clearly caught off guard.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” She said hurriedly, words sliding together. “I’ll totally respect it if you don’t want to tell me, I-”

“Jemma it’s fine, really. I mean, it’s not really a thing I’ve been actually asked about before, but there’s a first time for everything, right?” He said, smiling sheepishly. He paused for a second, “Getting your mark, at least to me, is just extremely trippy. You’re barely an adult and all of a sudden you’re tied to someone you’ve probably never met for the rest of your life. And you might not ever even meet this person, but you have to live knowing that they’re out there. It’s very confusing, because you kind of just want to rush out and find them, but you know, life responsibilities. Also, I personally didn’t really get anything that would be a super helpful hint about who she is or where she could be.”

“What’s your mark?” She asked.

“I’m not sure if it has a specific name, but it’s some kind if galaxy. I guess she’s into astronomy?” He shook his head, “I don’t actually know, it could mean anything. I guess I’ll just have to hope to run into her at some point.”

“Seems like a promising plan.” She said, nodding.

“I hope so,” he said, and maybe it was the beer they’d snuck from the Boiler Room or the crush on him that she’d been desperately trying to control since before they’d actually been friends, but for a split second she thought that his eyes flicked down to her lips. “But I don’t really think I’m going to let some random tattoo about a random person determine who I love.”

His words made Jemma feel as if someone had dipped her in sunlight, because then, just maybe, he’d return her feelings, but he immediately looked embarrassed. He turned away from her and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“It’s kind of late,” he said, reaching for his jacket, pulling it on, “See you tomorrow?” He asked, barely making eye contact, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Definitely,” She said, wondering what exactly she could do to make him stay a little longer, “I- Thank you.” She said earnestly. “It’s been a good birthday.”

He turned back to her, blue eyes full of something that she wasn’t hopeful enough to name yet, “Good, you deserve good birthdays. And,” He swallowed, frozen halfway out of her apartment, “Let me know how your mark goes.” He finished lamely, closing the door. 

She sighed, running a hand through her hair, as she replayed their conversation in her head. She padded back to her living room, and rewatched episodes of her favorite shows as she tried to push the whole thing out of her mind, because no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t make the lump in her throat that she got from thinking about the whole situation go away. 

She didn’t see her mark until after her shower the next day, the cosmos stretched across the back of her right shoulder. Her best friend being her soulmate was better than any other gift that she could have received for her birthday. 


End file.
